


The Dentist Appointment

by SwellDame



Series: Modern AU I [1]
Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dentists, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Imagine your OTP, Phobias, Romantic Fluff, Tumblr Memes, Unresolved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 13:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7441177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwellDame/pseuds/SwellDame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne has a phobia about going to the dentist and has no one to take her except Athos. But what happens if the “laughing gas” takes an unexpected effect?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fanfic half-suggested by an OTP meme and then encouraged by hippity-hoppity-brigade.

“But you promised you’d take me.” Anne reminded Ninon as she glanced at the stove clock.  
  
 _A half hour,_ she dreaded the thought. _I have to be there in half an hour._  
  
“I know hun, but there’s this demonstration going on tonight down at the campus…” Ninon tried to explain.  
  
“That’s very important to the cause, I know.” Anne gritted. “I can’t go by myself. _I can’t._ Who do you suggest?”  
  
She clutched her jaw as another nerve-ending spiked a shot of pain through her infected tooth to the root of her gums.  
  
“Oww, fuck.” Anne grumbled. “You hear this?”  
  
“I do sweetie. I’m really sorry. Can Constance take you?”  
  
“She hasn’t answered her phone all morning. She’s probably off with D'Artagnan doing God knows what.” Anne rubbed her left cheek above her sore gum. “I’ll reschedule.”  
  
“No, you can’t live with that for much longer…Porthos?”

“Away with Alice for the weekend.”

“Aramis?” Ninon suggested.

Anne laughed. “Sure, why not? He suggested that he could pull it out and save me the money. Next.”

“That only leaves one person.” Ninon pointed out. “Anne, I’m sure he’s not upset with you. It’s been a couple of weeks since you two – ”  
  
“No! Out of the question. Athos is not – Ouch!” Anne paused and muttered into the phone, “I’ll go by myself.”  
  
“I’m really sorry - ” Ninon began to apologize again but Anne’s patience was wearing thin, so she hung up.  
  
 _Perfect._ She thought as she glanced at the clock again.   
  
Her anxiety was eating away at her now. She hated doctors, dentists, the whole lot. They poked and prodded at you like a living science experiment. She mentally cursed her family at the moment for having terrible genetics when it came to their teeth. Not like cursing her family was out of the ordinary anyway.

There was no way she was going to call Athos to take her. They had barely spoken since they slept together a few weeks before. It was mostly her fault - she stopped returning his calls and avoided him whenever she could. This would be too much for her to handle in one day if he were to come with her.  
  
Before she had the chance to back out of the whole appointment, Anne grabbed her purse and left her apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

_It’s just an irrational fear. That’s all it is._ She coached herself for what felt like the thousandth time as she sat in her car.  
  
Her sweaty palms gripped the steering wheel. She couldn’t will herself to move her hand towards the ignition. Anne glanced at her iPhone sitting on the passenger seat.  
  
 _No. I can do this without him. I can do this._ Anne reached for the keys and turned it on. The engine came to life but she still wouldn’t move.  
  
“You are so stupid.” She hissed and reached for her iPhone. Just as she was reaching for it, there was a knock at her car window.  
  
The knock made her jump. Then she saw who it was, Athos, and she groaned. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or more anxious. She rolled down her window.  
  
“What are you doing here?” She accused, “You scared the shit out of me, you know that?”  
  
“Move over.” Athos opened the door.  
  
“Excuse me?” Anne asked. But it might as well had been rhetorical because she was already doing as he said. She climbed over the middle console to the passenger seat and shoved her things to the floor.  
  
“You’re going to be late.” Athos tapped the clock on the dashboard as he reversed the car out of the parking lot.  
  
“I was about to leave. Then you had to tag along.” She hissed as she clutched her throbbing jaw.  
  
“Right. And the wheel was just nervous for you?” Athos quipped.  
  
“…The hell are you even doing here anyway?” Anne tried to yell at him. It only sent a shooting pain through her gum again. “Ow.”  
  
“No talking until we get there. And even that’s negotiable.” He instructed. Anne made an un-pronounced grumble and huddled herself in the seat.  
  
She turned away from him and chose to look outside the window. She certainly didn’t need to be looking in his direction at least. Seeing as how just by being in Athos’ presence made her do all sorts of things. Things she didn’t want to recall, but only now chose to make their way back into her mind. Anne shook her head and hoped that a simple head jiggle would make them go away with the blush of her cheek. She groaned.  
  
“Almost there.” He soothed and he was right. They were only a street away from the dentist’s office.  
  
When he pulled into the parking lot, there was an awkward silence that passed between them.  
  
“I can come with you?” Athos offered. Anne shook her head.  
  
“I can do it.” She tried to assure him, but the vulnerable glance towards the office door said it all.  
  
He left the car and came around to open her door. Anne tried her best to keep from trembling as she stood up and closed the car door.  
  
“What makes you so nervous about going to the dentist?” He asked as they approached the office.  
  
“I don’t know. I’ve just always been scared.”  
  
“I never thought you’d be afraid of anything. Least of all a trip like this.” He remarked.  
  
 "Well, you’d be surprised what people can be afraid of.“  
  
When they walked into the office, she walked up to the counter to sign in. Her hand shook as she signed her name on the sheet. When she was done, Athos took her hand in his and walked with her over to the seating area.  
  
Anne’s first instinct was to pull her hand away. Her skin seemed to tingle and warm under his touch and she didn’t want that right now. But she didn’t pull away. At least not until they sat down and then she yanked it away.  
  
"You want one?” Athos asked as he leafed through the magazine holder. She shook her head. She watched him as he chose the latest issue of “Bon Appetit.”  
  
Anne pursed her lips in frustration, which was painful. Everything he did reminded her of that night and of course it was all his fault. Even if he didn’t know it.  
  
It happened when he touched her hand and it was happening again when he picked up the magazine. She remembered how Athos was a good cook and made some sort of white wine reduction shrimp pasta dish that night.  
  
But it wasn’t his fault she stopped talking to him or returning his calls. It was her fault. Her heart clenched around that realization. A wave of guilt overwhelmed her and she suddenly felt lightheaded, as if the room was getting smaller.  
  
“I’m sorry.” She looked over at him. He seemed preoccupied with some pasta recipe he found.  
  
“Hmm? For what?” He asked, flipping another page.  
  
“For…For…” She stammered. He set the magazine aside and gave her his full attention.  
  
She forgot how intimidating his gaze was. His blue eyes seemed to always look through her and pin her soul to his. What always surprised and simultaneously scared her was that it wasn’t a place of judgment when Athos looked at her. Anne tore her eyes away from him and preferred to look down into her lap. The moment passed and the courage left her. She forgot what she was going to say in the first place.  
  
All she managed to get out was, “For being me.”  
  
“Anne,” He started in a whisper but then the receptionist entered the room and interrupted.  
  
“Anne de Breuil.”  
  
“Would you like me to come with you?” He asked and she shook her head.  
  
“I think I can handle it from here.” Anne replied. “Believe it or not, I am a big girl.”


	3. Chapter 3

The operation itself was a blur after they gave her a dose of Nitrous Oxide to put her under for the root canal. It was a dreamless sleep until a man’s face emerged from the fog. It was someone familiar but she didn’t recognize him. All she knew was that he was perfect - his brown hair. His blue eyes. A warm energy exuded from him, something she never really felt before and trusted even less.  
  
“Anne?” He finally spoke. His voice was a perfect, rich dark tone.  
  
“Hello handsome.” She replied with a giggle. “Are you a prince?”  
  
“No,” He laughed. “Why would you say that?”  
  
“Because you look like one. Are you sure you’re not a long lost heir to the throne?”  
  
“Yes, I’m pretty sure. Don’t you recognize me?”  
  
“If I ever met you before, I would have certainly remembered you. You’re perfect.”  
  
He laughed again. “I’m far from perfect, I assure you.”  
  
“No, no. You are. As for me, I don’t think I would be a very good princess though. Not exactly Kate Middleton, you know?”  
  
“I would disagree.”  
  
“Well, you should ask Athos then, he would agree with me.”  
  
“Athos?” Anne neglected to notice that her Prince’s face darkened a bit.  
  
“You remind me of him…You could be his twin.”  
  
“I do?”  
  
“Yes.” She nodded and smiled at him.  
  
“Is he your boyfriend?” The prince’s voice shook a little. Anne assumed it was jealousy.  
  
“Don’t be jealous, Prince. He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t have one.” She winked.  
  
“Would you like him to be?”  
  
“You’re nosy, aren’t you?” Anne paused and considered her answer to his question. “I would but it wouldn’t work out.”  
  
“Why?” He stammered.  
  
“This isn’t going to make a very good case for me since I want you to take me home tonight but…I’m not right for him…I have a past that can’t be erased.” Anne’s voice cracked.  
  
“Everyone has a past.” He assured her by brushing a curl from her forehead.  
  
“Not like me.” Anne blinked back tears. “I’m terrible too. I have a short temper. I’m stubborn, impatient…”  
  
“Sounds like a party to me.” The Prince smiled but stopped short when he realized how serious of a confession this was for her.  
  
“Not for him.” She sighed. “We…We slept together one night awhile ago…Should I be telling you this?”  
  
“Yes.” The Prince’s reply was broken and soft.  
  
“I haven’t really talked to him since. I don’t want to tell him…” Anne took a deep breath. “I don’t want to tell him that night meant everything to me.”  
  
“I can’t tell him I love him.” She broke down and started to cry.  
  
“Oh Anne,” The Prince exhaled and reached over to take her hand and cup her cheek.  
  
“I can’t tell him that I love him. I’ll destroy him.” Anne wailed.  
  
The Prince reached over and pressed his lips to hers. It was a simple kiss that she used to dream about when she was a girl. But much to Anne’s disappointment, it was brief.  
  
“Everything will be all right now. I promise.” He whispered to her. The Prince didn’t stay for very long after that. His image faded back into the fog.  
  
Shortly after, it was when the office door clicked shut, that something in Anne’s mind snapped. The pieces of the so-called dream fell into place all at once.  
  
She pressed her fingers to her lips and remembered the kiss. His lips were soft and she could still smell the lingering scent of his mint cologne.  
  
“Oh God no.” She gasped and her heart fell.  
  


* * *

  
  
The drive home was quiet, save for the radio that was having an 80s flashback night. Anne had planned on not saying anything at all until the opening chords to a song most familiar to them start to play. She shut off the radio.  
  
“You…uh…You weren’t in the room towards the end, were you?” She asked. Her insides cringed and braced for the answer.  
  
“No,” Athos swallowed. “Why? Something interesting happen?”  
  
“No. I just…thought you were there for some reason. Laughing gas and all.”  
  
“Right.” Athos clenched and unclenched the wheel. He hoped she didn’t see it.  
  
“Forget it.” Anne turned away to look out the window.

 


End file.
